#i feel like this isn't really explored in other superhero stories i've seen

[m-a-r-i--c-h-a-t]

maybe it's lust cat noir! can't you just let a girl have her kink?!

[swaps55]

Okay so I usually don't really care for OCs in a story, but the Yang's crew has stolen my heart completely ngl. So I was wondering, what would Pendergrass, Aslany and Beaudoin think about the ME1 Normandy's crew? How would they get along with them?

I've been sitting on this question so I could give it the attention it deserves, because it's a really fun thought exercise.

[And now that I've written this out, I really wish I could put them on the SR-1 and explore it further, so thank you again for an amazing question.]

Beaudoin: By nature, he gets along with everyone, but I think if you were to put him on the SR-1 or mix him with that crew, he'd feel really out of his element. He's never seen himself as anything other than Just A Guy. The superhero stuff is for other people. Courage, bravery, heroism, and The Cause isn't his thing, not because he doesn't care, but because he lacks the drive and initiative people like Sam, Kaidan, and Aslany do. (Pendergrass doesn't have initiative so much as insatiable curiosity and an unsettling lack of concern for safety).

So when it comes to the SR-1 crew, he'd probably feel even more of what he did on the 'Yang with Sam - that he's not good enough to work with these people. But he's very good at hiding his insecurities, so you probably wouldn't see it unless you knew what to look for.

He'd probably avoid Wrex. Dealing with Wrex is outside his paygrade. Garrus' loose cannon tendencies would worry him a lot, and he'd nag Sam to watch that guy because he was bound to get himself and everyone else in trouble. I wrote a scene in my ME1-fic, Exordium, in which Shepard (not Sam) notices Ashley get weird during a card game, finds her in the cargo bay, and then discovers she was playing poker with her unit when the geth attacked. Beaudoin would be the guy who sought her out if he were there, and he'd give her someone to talk to or confide in about Eden Prime, pep talk her about her family legacy, and have a smile when she needed it.

He'd find Tali delightful and charm the pants off her. He'd make sure she had something decent to eat, and when he figures out she's lonely away from home, guess who becomes a Fleet and Flotilla fan and sucks Ashley into it. The three of them hold watch parties, and suck in everyone they can. Aslany has to be dragged kicking and screaming, but she does it for Clay even though she scowls the whole time. He'd be equal parts fascinated and amused by Liara's blend of competence and naivete. He'd be the one to shake Sam by the shoulders and say, "to you Benezia was a monster to put down, but to Liara it was her mom."

Joker and Ashley would severely test his, "you don't fuck crew," motto, but he'd resist. Virmire would put a rift between him and Sam, while also putting himself in a guilt spiral, because the other choice would have been to leave Kaidan behind, and he wouldn't have been able to live with that, either. Virmire, more than anything, would teach Beaudoin things about what Sam does that he never truly grasped on the 'Yang, and reinforce that he wants no part of that. I think he gets out of the Alliance after Virmire.

Pendergrass: We saw in Fugue that Pendergrass developed some pretty intense jealousy over the SR-1 crew, fearing that Kaidan and Sam had replaced her with something better. And I think if she were on the SR-1, she'd get off on the wrong foot with Tali specifically. But they're both huge tech nerds, and Tali is Tali and Kara is Kara, so that would pass quickly. It wouldn't be long before they'd be attached at the hip, and and when one of them said, "I have an idea," the whole ship would nervously hold their breath.

She wouldn't get Liara at all, and probably ask a lot of really inappropriate questions about asari sexuality, requiring Beaudoin to intervene and explain to Liara, "Sorry, she's just Like That, she doesn't mean anything by it.' She would have no fear of Wrex, thanks to Sam's reverent krogan talk over the years. Wrex would find her excessively irritating at first, but would find a deep appreciation for her after watching her work in the field. She's a different kind of warrior with different weapons than he's used to, but a warrior all the same. If you can imagine anyone lounging in Wrex's lap to watch a movie, please imagine Kara.

She might bounce off Ashley a little for similar reasons to her initial clash with Tali, but my guess is they don't make up the ground the way Kara and Tali do. ME1 Garrus is probably a little too intense and focused for her, but she'd get along famously with ME3 Garrus. She'd think he was funny, and take his side over Vega's when they play one-up with each other.

Aslany: She would predispose herself to hating everyone. This is her family, her squad, and fuck you. You aren't part of it. Opening up her small circle of people she loves so fiercely would be extremely difficult for her. None of them are good enough to protect her people. Kara becoming close with Tali and Beaudoin becoming close with Ashley would make her crazy. She'd need a lot of reassurance, and Kaidan is probably who she'd go to for it. Ironically, she'd find Wrex the least threatening and warm up to him first. He'd be skeptical of the fragile human who wants to spar, but ultimately sing her praises, and Sam would be insanely proud of this.

She might grudgingly start to tolerate Ashley, but by that time it'll be too late. She probably becomes more neutral towards Liara, but the swiftness with which Liara becomes close to Sam would irk her a lot. Garrus would also piss her off - who the fuck does this guy think he is, I'm the sniper in this family - but after the events of ME2 she would respect him for sticking with Sam when the rest of them didn't, and see him a lot differently.

[wildgirllz]

hi hello!!! i hope you're having a good day today! <3

i hope this isn't too specific, but can i request a dean winchester x male reader where they were childhood bEsT friends (they had the biggest crushes on each other but they could never admit it), but reader ran away from home when he was a teen and never got the chance to say goodbye to dean, and now dean and reader accidentally run into each other years later after they're both adults and on a case, and they have a mixed feeling reuinion because dean is OVERJOYED to see reader again, but also he is upset that reader never told dean where he was going, or even said goodbye? tysm <3

Ofc!! Here you go <3

Runaway

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: Angst, but a happy ending :)

It was just another day on the job for Dean Winchester, the hunter with the rugged good looks and the devil-may-care attitude. He had been hunting monsters with his brother, Sam, for years now, and while the work was dangerous, it was the only life he knew. He was good at it, and he liked the thrill of the hunt.

As he walked through the crowded city street, Dean felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in years, not since he was a teenager. He glanced around, trying to figure out what was causing the sensation, and then he saw him.

(Y/n).

Dean's childhood best friend. They had grown up together, spending countless hours exploring the woods and getting into all sorts of trouble. They had been inseparable, until (Y/n) had disappeared one day, without a word.

Dean had never been able to forget (Y/n). They had had a crush on each other when they were teenagers, but they had never been able to admit it. And now, here he was, standing in the middle of the street, looking just as handsome as ever.

Dean walked up to him, feeling a mix of emotions. He was overjoyed to see (Y/n) again, but at the same time, he was upset that (Y/n) had disappeared without a word.

"(Y/n)?" Dean said, his voice barely above a whisper.

(Y/n) turned around, and when he saw Dean, his face lit up with a smile. "Dean!" he said, his voice filled with surprise and delight.

For a moment, they just stared at each other, lost in memories of their childhood. Then, Dean spoke again. "Where the hell have you been, man? You disappeared without a word."

(Y/n)'s smile faded slightly, and he looked down at the ground. "I know," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just leave like that. I just... I had to get away, you know? Things were tough at home, and I needed to figure some things out."

Dean frowned. "What kind of things?"

(Y/n) shrugged. "Just... stuff. Family stuff. I don't really want to talk about it."

Dean nodded, understanding that some things were best left unsaid. "Well, it's good to see you again," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "What are you doing here?"

(Y/n) hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. "I'm a hunter," he finally said. "I've been working on my own for a few years now."

Dean raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Really? You're a hunter?"

(Y/n) nodded. "Yeah. It's not easy, but I like it. It's... it's kind of like being a superhero, you know? Saving people, hunting things. It's a rush."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been doing it for years."

They chatted for a few more minutes, catching up on old times and exchanging stories about their hunting experiences. Dean was glad to see that (Y/n) was doing well, but at the same time, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of hurt that (Y/n) had never reached out to him.

After a while, they parted ways, with (Y/n) promising to keep in touch. Dean watched him go, feeling a mix of emotions. He was happy to have seen (Y/n) again, but at the same time, he was hurt that (Y/n) had never told him where he was going, or even said goodbye.

As Dean walked back to his hotel, his thoughts were consumed by (Y/n). He couldn't believe that after all these years, they had run into each other again. It was like fate had brought them back together.

But at the same time, he couldn't help feeling angry and hurt. He had spent years wondering what had happened to (Y/n), worrying about him, and missing him. And (Y/n) had just disappeared without a word.

When he got back to the hotel, Sam could tell something was bothering him. "What's wrong, Dean?" he asked.

Dean sighed heavily. "I ran into (Y/n) today," he said.

Sam's eyes widened. "Really? How is he?"

"He's... he's good," Dean said, still lost in thought. "He's a hunter now, apparently. He's been on his own for a while."

Sam looked at him quizzically. "And that's a bad thing?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. It's just... it's weird, you know? We were best friends, and then he just disappeared without a word. And now he's a hunter, and I had no idea."

Sam nodded sympathetically. "I can see why that would bother you," he said. "But hey, at least you got to see him again. Maybe you can reconnect."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, right. Like he's just going to waltz back into my life like nothing happened."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Well, maybe he will. Or maybe he won't. But either way, you should try to make peace with it. Life's too short to hold grudges."

Dean nodded, knowing his brother was right. But it was easier said than done.

The next few days were a blur of hunting and killing, and Dean didn't have much time to think about (Y/n). But he couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between them. They had been such close friends as kids, and now they were practically strangers.

It wasn't until they finished the hunt and were packing up to leave that (Y/n) showed up again. He was standing outside the hotel, looking nervous.

"Hey," he said, his eyes darting around nervously. "Can we talk?"

Dean hesitated, unsure. "I don't know if there's anything left to say," he said finally.

(Y/n) looked at him pleadingly. "Please, Dean. I need to explain."

Dean sighed heavily. "Fine," he said. "Let's talk."

They walked to a nearby park and sat down on a bench. (Y/n) took a deep breath and started talking.

"I know I disappeared without a word," he said. "And I'm sorry. But you have to understand, things were really bad at home. My parents were fighting all the time, and my brother was getting into trouble. I didn't know what to do, so I just... I ran away."

Dean listened, his anger slowly melting away. He could hear the pain and desperation in (Y/n)'s voice, and he knew that he had been through a lot.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," (Y/n) continued. "But I was scared, and I didn't know what else to do. And then, after a while, I was too ashamed to come back. I didn't know how to face you.”

Dean nodded, understanding. "I get it," he said. "But you could have at least told me you were leaving. I spent years wondering what had happened to you, worrying about you. And you didn't even say goodbye."

(Y/n) looked down at his feet. "I know,"

There was a moment of silence between them, and Dean couldn't help but feel conflicted. On one hand, he was glad to finally have some closure and hear (Y/n)'s side of the story. On the other hand, he was still hurt that (Y/n) had left without a word.

"I'm sorry," (Y/n) said softly. "I should have told you. I should have said goodbye."

Dean took a deep breath and looked over at his old friend. He could see the sincerity in (Y/n)'s eyes and knew that he meant what he said.

"It's okay," Dean finally said. "I forgive you."

(Y/n) looked up at him, relief flooding his face. "Thank you," he said.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before (Y/n) spoke up again. "I missed you," he said softly. "A lot."

Dean felt his heart skip a beat at the words. He had missed (Y/n) too, more than he had ever let himself admit. They had been each other's confidants, each other's first crushes. But things had changed, and they had both gone down different paths.

"I missed you too," Dean finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.

There was a moment of silence between them before (Y/n) spoke up again. "I know we can't go back to how things were," he said. "But... maybe we could try to be friends again?"

Dean thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah," he said. "I'd like that."

(Y/n) smiled, and they sat in comfortable silence for a while longer. Dean couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over him as he sat there with his old friend.

As they got up to leave, (Y/n) turned to him. "Hey, Dean?" he said.

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"Thank you for forgiving me," (Y/n) said. "It means a lot."

Dean smiled at him. "Of course," he said. "We were always meant to find each other again."

(Y/n) smiled back at him, and they walked back to the hotel together. It wasn't a perfect reunion, but it was a start. Dean knew that there was still a lot of healing to be done, but he was willing to try. He had missed (Y/n) too much to let him go again.

[laufire]

if you're willing, would you mind sharing more of your thoughts on mia/jason? B/c i personally can't see mia wanting anything to do with him (based on the green arrow arc), but i am open to having my mind changed if you have a case for it

sure!

I'll preface this by saying that although I ship them, I don't have A Plot for them yet, the way I do for other of my jason rareships, and thus I have yet to ~envision how I'd personally have it go down. but these are my thoughts on them at the moment.

first of all... the green arrow arc isn't this HORRIBLE, TEERRIBLE, AWFUL thing that happened to mia, or this irredeemable evil jason did, and I'm always baffled whenever I see it talked about that way. like. mia is not a normie kid living her normie life in a slice-of-life teen story. she's a freaking SUPERHERO that risks her freaking LIFE on the regular. jason is this dude one, maybe two years older than her that didn't even want to seriously harm her.

she obviously wouldn't walk out of that encounter with kind thoughts about him. he was an asshole! he wanted to scare her! (and he had a GOAL re: sidekicks and the danger they're exposed to and a point to prove about it, which I always feel is handwaved). but like, jason is not a static character, or not doomed to be at least. he'd have to sincerely apologise, saying that yeah, he was a shit, that was a shitty thing to do, he was projecting some stuff on hers and ollie's relationship that wasn't even true and he's ready to compensate her for it. and again, these are... not normal people. like sorry but I just don't think what jason did in that arc garrants an eternity of hate and enmity to them.

and obviously not hating him forever/seeing his actions for what they were and not more/being able to forgive them in the face of a sincere apology and amendments isn't the same as actually seeing jason as a romantic prospect! but it's a first step into a less than hostile dynamic.

and within that context, I could see mia thinking back on some of the things jason said in their confrontation, about them being alike (also, winick wasn't been subtle in his parallels here, but I've seen people being VERY obtuse about this part of the scene añsldkf). I haven't read mia in a team context/with lots of peers her age yet, but even if she's more likely to find people with commonalities/messed up childhoods among child heroes, common ground is still something to be curious about, to bond over. and such very specific common ground would be something I think she'd value.

I haven't reached that arc yet, but I know mia has also killed, once, in circumstances where she thought she had no other choice. and she doesn't want to do that anymore, she wants to be a hero and stay on the path and raise above. those are things that I find interesting in conjunction to a dynamic with jason, in particular. the way it would lead both to conflict and to a different level of understanding.

also, there's always this sense in posts against these ships where I feel like... mia doesn't have to be perfect. she can be messy and make questionable romantic choices and maybe they pan out or maybe they don't, but it could be something actually fun to explore with her character, to see her in a context like that. less in the "bad boy attraction" sense because really, past aesthetics jason does not fit that role in a romantic sense, but as in getting to explore other sides of her character through a romantic relationship, especially as a character with both a history of sexual abuse and with HIV. and I'm sure there are other candidates for that, both canon and fanon, but it just happens that the first thing I read with her was the Jason Being A Menace arc and that I looooove a meet ugly, especially if it comes with a "recognition through the other (derogatory)" bonus.

anyway. I'm not trying to convince anyone because I'm perfectly happy in my rowboat-sized ships and it's nothing to me if other people disagree or judge me for them lol, but thanks for the chance to talk about them a bit!

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.88-90

The 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypa Liveblog concludes with the DBS manga's adaptation of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero motion picture.

First up, we have this three-chapter prologue/prequel thing starring Goten and Trunks in their lankey teen bodies. It's well-made, but I'm not impressed. Find out the reason why... inside!

Okay, as the image above shows, this is all about the boys' playing superheroes while they're in high school... just like Gohan did way back in Dragon Ball Z. The main difference seems to be that there's two of them doing it this time, and their motives are a little more frivolous. Gohan came up with Great Saiayaman because he just couldn't help but foil crimes, and the costume allowed him to save the day without giving away his identity. Goten and Trunks also want to keep a low profile, but they mostly seem to be doing this shtick because they're on a superhero kick lately. They call themselves "Saiyaman X1 and X2", but their act mainly imitates their hero, Cleangod, who has a franchise of movies, video games, and so forth.

The added wrinkle is that they're also trying to keep this thing a secret from their families, as Bulma and Chi-Chi wouldn't approve of the boys screwing around like this when they should be studying. I guess it was okay when Gohan did it, but times have changed, and Trunks in particular isn't doing so hot on his report cards.

That does keep things mildly interesting. For example, you'd expect the boys to use costume changing watches like Great Saiyaman had, except they don't want Bulma to find out. So Trunks asks Pilaf to make them instead, and Pilaf can't make them as quickly, so Trunks doesn't get his until chapter 88 is half-over, and Goten's isn't ready until chapter 89. And you know, it probably would make things a lot simpler for Goten and Trunks to avoid the Saiyaman stuff altogether if they don't want their moms to find out, since they've seen this trick before. But they're doing it anyway, I guess because they're just that deep into the Cleangod fandom.

However, this still feels like a retread of a storyline we've already seen. Reading this, I feel like I've gotten too old for Dragon Ball. I know that isn't true. I'm looking forward to whatever happens in Chapter 101 onward, and Daima seems promising, even if it wasn't what I had in mind. There's always something interesting around the corner... but I see stories like this one that are more interested in rehashing older material, and it just feels tired and stale. Younger fans may not mind at all, but I see this and wonder if all we have left is just rehashing ideas we've already seen before.

Besides all of that, I'm not a big fan of high school stories, and there's a healthy dose of Trumai... and let's just get this out of the way before we go any further: I'm not that interested in the whole "next generation" thing.

I know there's a lot of fans who really dig the whole idea of exploring what happens to Goten, Trunks, Marron, Uub, Bulla, and Pan. I respect that, but I've never been very invested in any of them. I liked what we got out of them in DBZ, but that's about it. Let me kind of single out Goten so I can discuss this more easily. For the sake of argument, let's just call the "next generation" concept "Big Goten", since it features the teenage or adult version of the character, as opposed to the little guy in the Buu Saga and most of Super. Trunks, Marron, and the rest can be lumped into this, but it's easier to just refer to one character.

Basically, this 3-chapter arc is probably the best "Big Goten" story by default. Your other options are the End of Z episodes which barely do anything with him, or that one GT episode where he fights Baby and gets possessed. Or the Super Hero movie, where he's barely in it.

And yet, we have this 3-chapter arc, and Goten's basically playing sidekick to Trunks. That's not a huge problem in itself. You'd expect these two to be side-by-side, but it's mainly a Trunks story. He's trying to get Mai to go out with him, but she's part of the Pilaf gang living at Capsule Corp, and they have to be useful or Bulma will kick them out. So she's too busy repairing these "helper robots" that malfunctioned recently. Trunks thinks he can investigate the case as Saiyaman X-1 and get Mai the weekend off so she can date him. Goten's just sort of along for the ride. He enjoys the superhero bit, and he likes goofing off with Trunks, so it's all good.

And honestly, you could probably switch these two around and have Goten be the one trying to solve crimes to go on a date, while Trunks is the supportive wingman. But that's the problem. We have this one story, and they both kind of have to share it, and it really doesn't matter which one of them gets the lead.

Like, in this arc, we learn a little more about Teen Trunks. He's not doing well scholastically, he lacks Bulma's talent with computers or science, and... he's still carrying a torch for Mai for some reason. Oh, and he's afraid of ghosts now. It's not much to go on, but at least he gets something. All we find out about Goten in this thing is that he likes Cleangod, just like Trunks. Oh, and Teen Marron has a brief appearance where it turns out she really likes Cleangod too. Also several of Goten and Trunks' classmates enjoy Cleangod. And Dr. Hedo likes Cleangod. You know, that's how you develop your characters, right? You make them all like the same thing.

The point I'm getting at is that for years I've heard that Big Goten is this untapped well of great story ideas and this arc finally gets around to that and... it's pretty underwhelming. That's the big idea? Superheroes? Again? It worked for Gohan because it was a fresh idea when he did it. And it worked for Dr. Hedo because it helped set him apart from Dr. Gero. But all it does for Goten and Trunks is give them another set of clothes. Trunks is still pining for Mai and Goten is still just happy to be here. It's not enough. It's not nearly enough.

So let's move on. The boys head into town one night to investigate the Helper Robots that are mysteriously disappearing. Turns out they've been hijacked by Dr. Hedo's Alpha series androids. Strictly speaking, the Alphas are just corpses stolen from a morgue, reanimated with cybernetics. Remember those goons working at the convenience store in the beginning of Super Hero? Well this is the same group of guys. Hedo's problem is that he's fare more brilliant than Gero ever was, but he lacks the resources and funding to make the kinds of androids that he wants to make. The Alphas are functional, but only just. Their brains are defective, and you can probably only steal so many bodies from the morgue before the cops get wise to you. So Hedo's big idea is to hijack the Helper Robots and use them to manufacture sushi packages for profit. He could build something more efficient for this, but this will have to do until he gets the cash.

Oh, I forgot to talk about how Pilaf built the Helper bots. I'm not clear on what they do, but there's a lot of them in the city, and apparently Pilaf pitched the idea to Bulma and she okayed it. At first I was surprised to read this, but then I remembered that Pilaf had his own Dragon Radar way back in the day. It wasn't as sophisticated as Bulma's, but it goes to show that Pilaf knows his way around technology. This isn't some new thing they slapped onto his character, like Trunks suddenly being afraid of ghosts.

For a second, it looks like Goten and Trunks are discovered by the Alphas, but it turns out Trunks' pals from school have snuck into the production floor, and they're the ones who get discovered, so Trunks has to go in and save them. Except his superhero wristwatch malfunctions, so Goten has to take out the lights to cover for him.

Trunks cleans house, even defeating Alpha 12, who was the strongest guy on Hedo's team. When Hedo himself arrives to find his base wrecked, his only clue is that it was trashed by someone who goes to "Blue Hal" High School. It's a major setback for Hedo, but what really upsets him is that Trunks took an important disc from his safe. Hedo wants to recover it above all else. Ironically, Trunks isn't even that concerned about the disc, since all he really cares about is disrupting whatever Hedo was doing to the Helper Robots. That way he can get his date with Mai, except it won't. Even more ironically, Mai still has to work on Saturday night, because she and the Pilaf Gang have to repair all the Helper Robots Trunks smashed in Hedo's base. Whoops!

Later, Trunks tries to use Bulma's computer to access the data on the disc he took from Hedo's sushi packaging shop. He briefly sees information related to Cell, but he doesn't recognize its significance, probably because he only knows Cell from hearing about it through his family. Anyway, the disc gives the computer a virus, which Bulla removes because that's her big character defining moment in this story. She's basically a carbon copy of Kid Bulma from the Jaco manga, but at least she's not another Cleangod fan.

Anyway, Bulma had decided to start sending Mai to school along with Trunks. Apparently she realized it might be awkward if anyone noticed Mai working for Capsule Corp. and not going to school. This just now came up? I mean, the Pilaf Gang have been here for a few years at least. If anything, it would have been more awkward when Mai was younger, right? I mean, I get it, this is just a way to get Mai involved in the story, but still...

There's also another new student in Trunks' class: Baytah. Trunks' friend Rulah takes an immediate liking to him, but this is pretty clearly a new android created by Dr. Hedo. The Alpha series was no match for Saiyaman X-1, so he created a new Beta class to infiltrate Blue Hal High School and find out who X-1 really is. Beta begins to suspect Trunks, since he displays some above-average performance on the basketball court, but he can't find a way to prove it without giving himself away.

So here we have this weird scene where they're getting soup for lunch, and Trunks is sad that he can't get extra. Then Beta pretends to trip or something, and throws his soup into the air. I guess the idea was that Trunks would have to use super powers to dodge it, or he'd get it all over his nice school clothes. But instead Trunks just sort of shifts to one side and the soup miraculously lands in his bowl. And he's happy because he gets extra soup? How does it all fit in one bowl, though? Is the lunch lady only filling them up halfway? This whole bit is really contrived, is what I'm trying to say.

Somewhere along the way, Mai figures it out and explains it to Trunks, so they know Beta is looking for Saiyaman X-1. So he knows to be careful about showing off his powers, but Goten just picks up a truck during recess to get a tennis ball back for his classmates. See, Trunks, this is how you get the ladies. Mai is like 55 years old. She doesn't care, but if you pick up a truck or two, all these teenage girls will go wild. Right now, these two girls are thinking about how much they wish they were trucks, being held in Goten's mightly-yet-gentle hand.

Anyway, now Beta is convinced that Goten is the one he's after, and Hedo tells him to attack and get the disc.

So Beta reveals he has a goofy superhero suit of his own, but Goten can't fight seriously because he doesn't have a transformation watch yet. Fortunately, Trunks does, so he shows up as X-1 and quickly slips Goten the new watch Pilaf must have made last night.

I'm not thrilled with Beta's design, but I like the concept. Faced with both Saiyamen, he deploys Beta 2, which is a robotic exosuit that can separate and fight in two modules. The Betas are here for the disc, but neither Goten or Trunks has it. Mai does, because Trunks gave her his bag while he ran off to pee or whatever excuse he had to switch costumes.

So Trunks has to save Mai from the Betas, and as he catches her, she briefly mistakes him for Future Trunks, the only version of Trunks Mai seems to have any interest in. The Saiyamen clean house, and the day is saved. Trunks very nearly tells Mai that he was X-1 all along, but Goten stops him before he can spill the beans in front of the whole school.

Okay, but what's the point? I mean, Goten just lifted a truck with one hand a minute ago? More importantly, Great Saiyaman was revealed to be Goten about ten years earlier. Not that I expect these students to remember that, but that's my point: Gohan was worried about everyone finding out he had super powers, and in the end no one cared.

I mean, there's still the matter of not wanting Bulma and Chi-Chi to find out what they're up to, but that sort of doesn't matter? I mean, the moms just want their kids to study more and screw around less. It doesn't really matter if they're playing superhero or going fishing. Their moms know they aren't studying, because they've got the report cards to prove it.

Back at Hedo's (other) base, he realizes he underestimated the Saiyamen, and realizes that he'll have to build even better androids to defeat them. And he's taken a liking to the Saiyamen's costumes, particularly their capes, so the implication here is that the Gammas' designs were inspired by Goten and Trunks' antics in this story.

Later, we finally get to that convenience store we saw briefly in Super Hero. Hedo still needs money, especially if he plans to build something to defeat the Saiyamen, so he puts three of his Alphas to work at the "Mammal Mart". It's Krillin who makes the bust, and for some reason Mai is there too.

Despite his lofty plans for better androids, the best Hedo can manage is to send more Beta series androids after Goten and Trunks. Beta 7 looks like an Elvis impersonator, and he intercepts Goten's school bus, but Goten changes into X-2 and beats him. Apparently this sort of thing has been going on for a while now.

Mai takes Goten aside and reveals to him that they're being watched by a tiny spy-robot. After the Beta-1 incident at school, Mai investigated and learned that Dr. Hedo is a famous scientist in the area, and she believes he's behind all of this. Apparently he's already figured out Goten and Trunks are the Saiyamen, since he's been sending Beta androids to harass them.

Mai's plan is to defeat Hedo by using the school dance to lure him into a trap. The organizers have arranged for a live appearance by Cleangod at the dance, which... seems kind of odd for a high school dance, but nothing about this super-hero business really makes any sense to me.

Like, okay... I've been a comic book fan for over thirty years. I just read a bunch of Golden Age Captain Americas a few months ago. I think I know the genre pretty well, and nothing Dragon Ball Super does with the concept really rings true to me.

In the first place, the Dragon Ball characters are already superheroes. I went from Batman to Superman to Marvel to Dragon Ball Z, and it was a pretty smooth transition. I never stopped liking the other stuff that came before, so it's not like my tastes changed all that much. I just see DBZ as a natural extension of the same stuff I liked in Marvel and DC.

It made sense when Gohan became Great Saiyaman because the only trope he hadn't done yet was the secret identity thing, and the only reason it had never come up before was that he'd never needed one before then. Once he got into high school, he suddenly had friends he wanted to keep secrets from, so he did the same thing Clark Kent did in 1938.

But then you have Goten and Trunks doing it because they think it's neat, and they're fans of Cleangod, who is a fictional character to them. And this is probably because Hedo was doing the same bit in the movie, where he would wear a costume and do the poses because he was imitating other fictional superheroes. So the idea seems to be less about the superhero genre as I know it, and more of this ironic "Let's be comic book nerds and do cosplay, and also we have super powers so we can do more than just pose in the suits."

Which... fine, I guess. The thing is, I don't understand the fascination with Cleangod. I mean, it makes sense for Hedo to be an enormous fanboy, because he's a nerdy scientist. I'm a nerdy scientist, so I can relate. He wants Cleangod's autograph, and I'm running an anime blog in my late 40's.

But Goten and Trunks are not nerds. Neither, it seems, are most of their classmates. They all seem like fairly normal teens, mostly interested in dates and school stuff and snooping around abandoned factories or whatever. But this high school dance is going to feature a live appearance by a man in a superhero costume. That's the sort of thing a circus would do to get small children to show up.

Is this an ironic thing? Like, did Goten and Trunks start out thinking Cleangod was cringy kidstuff, and they just kept getting deeper into the fandom until they started liking it for real? Is that what's happening?

Sorry, I was explaining Mai's plan. Okay, so Cleangod will be doing a meet-and-greet at a high school dance party. Okay. Dr. Hedo is a huge mark for Cleangod, so Mai is certain he will crash the party just to meet Cleangod and get his autograph. And she plans to be there when he does, so she can shut him down once and for all.

And she gets to go to this dance, because she's attending with...

...Trunks. He wanted to ask her to this thing, but she asked him instead, so he's all a-flutter over this, never realizing that she's just using him to get at Hedo. Except.... she's attending this school now. She doesn't need a date to get in. Hedo is the one who has to find some way to get access to the building, because he's not a student.

I like Mai's armor in this scene, although it really never comes into play. Also, Trunks brought Hedo's disc with him, because.... I have no idea. Maybe he doesn't want to risk losing it?

As expected, Hedo does show up for this thing, and I guess it's because Beta-1 is still registered as a student? I'm more confused about this signing event in the middle of a dance floor. This just feels like a hot mess. Trunks and Hedo bond over their mutual love of Cleangod... wait, I thought Trunks was excited about getting to go on a date with Mai? Priorities, Trunks!

Anyway, Hedo confides to Trunks that he had a Cleangod autograph before, but it was stolen, so he's here to get another one. Hold on, doesn't Hedo know Trunks is X-1? I mean, he was sending androids after Goten, so he must know he's X-2, right?

Mai tries to get Hedo, but then Beta shows up, and Rulah explains that he got back into the school, so she asked him to the dance. I really like Rulah. She doesn't know what's going on, but there's a new boy in town and she's gonna make time with him. She's like an Archie character.

Then the cops show up. Yeah, just draw your guns in a big crowd of children, Krillin, that makes a ton of sense.

Hedo uses a smokebomb to escape and everyone chases after him. By the time Cleangod comes out to make his big appearance, everyone is gone except Mai, who isn't impressed. That's the thing I can't square with all of this. The running gag seems to be that superheroes are both cool and uncool at the same time. People were lining up to see this guy, but the punchline is that he totally sucks? I guess? Characters will praise Goten and Trunks' costumes and then later characters will call them corny.

Like, which is it? That's the thing about superhero comics, at least from my perspective. In the real world, you either think Batman's awesome or he's a giant dork in a fursuit. Fine. But in the Batman mythos, just about everyone takes him seriously because he's a mysterious badass. I get it, Cleangod's basically Adam West working car-shows in the 1970's, but Saiyaman X-1 and X-2 are the real thing. They fought robots in the middle of the football field in front of everyone. I mean, no one called Goten corny when he lifted that truck.

Oh, by the way, Dr. Hedo's jalopy is awesome.

Krillin (reluctantly) brings Goten and Trunks along to chase down Hedo, and he fills them in on the situation. The cops have been after Hedo because they think the Red Ribbon Army is trying to stage a comback and they want to contact him. That.... doesn't quite square with the movie, but we'll talk about that later.

Anyway, they get to Hedo's (third?) base and he's got a dinosaur android to stop them. This is the biggest, strongest one he's made so far, but it's still not very sophisticated, simply because Hedo lacks the resources to build anything better.

It gives the Bio-Broly Buster Crew a little trouble, but Krillin disables it with a kienzan, and then Goten and Trunks take it out with a double-team move. And Hedo's going to jail.

So what about that disc? Turns out it never mattered. Hedo memorized all the information on it a long time ago, so the disc itself had no value to him. What he wanted was the case, which contained, in addition to the disc, his prized Cleangod autograph. Remember? The one he told Trunks got stolen? They didn't know it at the time, but Trunks was the one who stole it in Chapter 88.

And that's really dumb, because Trunks did try to investigate the disc in Chapter 89. He didn't get very far, but he still had to open the case it was in, so you'd think he would have noticed the Cleangod autograph inside. I mean, another character might not have paid any attention to it, but Trunks is a huge fan of Cleangod himself.

And if Hedo truly had no use for the disc, why didn't he throw it away a long time ago? In this scene, he says he discarded it, but he must have only done that in the last few minutes, before Krillin showed up to arrest him, since Trunks had the disc before the dance. This whole thing is supposed to be clever, but it's kind of dumb.

Anyway, this whole caper explains how Hedo got sentenced to prison at the beginning of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. He could have been given a longer sentence, but according to this story, he agreed to return some of the Alphas back to the families of the corpses he built them out of. This is supposed to be funny, but it's just kind of bizarre. Like, are we saying Hedo resurrected the corpses? I thought the idea was he just used a dead body to build Alpha 12. But this seems to suggest Alpha 12 remembers his former existence. That's kind of fucked up.

Like I said at the beginning, there's a lot that is well done here. Toyotaro's art is on-point as usual, and there's some great action scene with Goten and Trunks. I think the big highlight of the arc were all of the side characters we see at their school, like Rulah and the others. Trunks' math teacher looked pretty cool. The problem is that they were never going to be the focus of this or any other story. It's taken years for Toei or Shueisha to do anything with Goten or Trunks, so their pals may never see the light of day again.

And that's what disappoints me about this arc, because it may have been the one chance of getting a good teen Goten and Trunks arc, and they blew it on this. Did we really need a backstory on Hedo's prison sentence? Did anyone leave the theater not understanding why he was in jail? Was anyone confused as to how he came up with the designs for Gamma 1 and 2's costumes? No. We didn't need this.

One of these days, there will be an official Big Goten story that gets it right. But this ain't it, chief.

[shsl-heck]

So because I've seen it compared to Worm, I started reading The Boys by Garth Ennis. It's bad! Like really bad! It feels like what would happen if you let an edgy anti-feminist atheist youtuber from 2015 write a comic book. I finished the first volume of the omnibus in large part because it was a train wreck I couldn't look away from, and am debating starting the second since I hate myself. The most interesting parts are actually the little forewords. Through them I learned both that it was supposed to be a comedy, and also a critique of the military industrial complex/police (or at least that people read it as one). This was surprising to me since it is neither funny nor incisive. Anyway, now I want to ramble incoherently about my problems with it because this goddamn comic broke my brain.

Okay, so one of the most common ways it shows you which characters you aren't supposed to like is by having them do comically "gross" sex stuff. Notable examples include cocaine fueled orgies, mentions of shitting during sex, bestiality, masturbating in public to the sight of disabled people, and a little person using sex toys. One that shows up repeatedly in this context is characters being bisexual or gay. Now, I don't wanna get controversial, but I think any claims that your work is a critique of capitalism, police, the military, or whatever are rendered moot when your villains are a group of secret hedonistic sex-freaks. Like we can't pretend that doesn't sound a lot like regressives and their obsession with "degeneracy". Sexual assaults, misogyny, and slurs also appear pretty often, mostly as the punch line for jokes. Victims are rendered down into objects and denied any sense of interiority so we can instead focus on what really matters (gore porn, and middle school 4chan posters' sense of humor). Never once does Ennis deign to explore the actual impact and trauma of these things, or ask why he views these things as material for jokes.

That incuriosity is I think the real problem with The Boys. There is no actual coherent thought about why things are bad. Superheroes hurt people and are wrong because of their personal moral failings as selfish perverts, not because their whole job is to violently enforce the will of the state. It's like if someone agreed that all cops are bastards, but only because all cops just so happened to be "bad apples". The main characters literally work for the fucking CIA, and yes, I know the titular Boys are at best meant to be anti-heroes a la the Punisher. My issue here isn't that they're hypocrites who are frequently also horrible. It's that this premise for is absolute nonsense if you think for half a second. Superheroes do not function without the legitimacy granted to them by the state and it's monopoly on violence, so why would the CIA need these 5 randos with zero oversight working to take out the supers? Is the force Homelander and the others can bring to bear so great that even the apparatus of that state can't deal with them? If so, why does this group of assholes change that? Normally I'd be willing to give the story a lot more of a pass when it comes to questions like this, except I'm being told that this story has things to say about systemic problems involving the government and corporations! So I have to ask, where? Where is the commentary? What does it actually have to say about the state of the world circa 2006-2012? The only answer I can come up with is "not a whole lot". It's a story which dares to ask the tough questions like "what if the world was made of pudding" and then ignore answering those questions so it can instead recite Ellis' favorite slurs in alphabetical order while showing you a woman's tits.

On a lighter note, it's also just not very good. The plot (as mentioned) falls apart under any amount of scrutiny, pacing is bizarre in a bad way, the characters aren't compelling, themes remains stubbornly unexplored, and Ellis is allergic to doing anything interesting or creative with the premise he's decided to base a whole comic around. I genuinely do not know what people enjoy(ed) about this comic.

[bts-polls]

hi. i know this blog is just for fun, and i don't want to be a downer, but jk rowling is a terf. she actively does not want trans people to exist. as a trans army, it makes me wildly uncomfortable when people who aren't fans are called 'muggles' or when people Sort the members. again, i know it's all supposed to be fun, but. i don't feel at all safe anymore whenever hp stuff is brought up. i hope you have a good day though <3

Hi anon,

First, before I get into the rest of my response I want to say that I while i can't truly empathize on this specific issue, I do sympathize with not feeling safe due to a marginalization from 'the mainstream'. I do apologize for any part my posts played into this for you and anyone else that may have seen them. I'm going to put the rest of my thoughts on this topic below a cut for anyone that isn't up for a discussion-type post from this blog.

HP was my first real fandom and as someone who was raised in an extremely conservative rural area, I'm unfortunately very familiar with this mindset and viewpoint.

I also had to do a hefty amount of soul-searching when deciding how much of hp-fandom I would continue to engage in. I've never been a merch-focused person (which honestly gave me some heartache getting into kpop..there are legit ppl out there that try to make you feel like a fake fan if you don't spend serious money on this interest... but that's a discussion for another day). Anyway, back to HP, I'm not into merch and I didn't like the movies, (I've still only seen the first two and a handful of clips from some of the others) so I'm personally not contributing anymore to the money channeling in but money isn't the only thing that fuels this massive engine.

Again, I had to have a very frank heart-to-heart with myself to see where I personally feel comfortable continuing to engage. For me, being involved in the Fandom to any degree and even having casual conversations about the themes and meanings was an essential part of learning to be curious enough to see more lifestyles different from the one I was raised in. And my story is not dissimilar from many that I knew in situations similar to mine. So I know that this body of work has actually had cases where it fosters discussions and mindsets for minority groups more than anything else of its time. I really cannot overstate how significant the HP books and fandom were in creating the first space where we were able to even explore the idea of being different from those around us, let alone feeling comfortable or even celebrating it. To us, HP was less about the magic of being able to move items without touching them but more about the magic of finding your own worth when everyone around you said otherwise. This concept takes different forms each generation, for some it's superheroes or musicians; for my generation, it was HP.

Do the unveiled viewpoints of the original creator now undo all of the progress that was triggered by her work? And should we all attempt to bury it as if it never happened? Another point of discussion, especially where I now live in the southern US with many entrenched systems of racial discrimination. (Again, another tangent but we're not here to talk about tearing down ugly statues that don't add any value to the current population).

There's also the literal logistical issue of deciding that I can't engage in anything because I don't agree with the views of the ppl in charge, then there will literally be no viable method to exist. My professional expertise is in systems design, implementation, and maintenance; and let me assure you, the world is legitimately run by people who have despicable beliefs. From entertainment, food manufacturing and distribution, to health care and politics; there are scummy mindsets infecting it all. The biggest lie in our society is that good ppl do good things and bad ppl do bad things. No. People with awful motivations do good things continuously. And the inverse is true as well. There is remarkably little black and white in the world, everything is on a spectrum.

Attempting to cut myself off from ALL of it is not possible, nor do I want to engage with ALL of it. So again, I need to decide where that line is. And it needs to be re-evaluated frequently as both myself and the world around me grows and changes.

But this really comes to my main point of this whole post. I had to do my own personal soul-searching to decide where my own boundary is with this issue. And each person should do so as well. We are all so beautifully different in our life experiences and thoughts and mindset. I would NEVER want to claim my personal boundary on any issue should be upheld for ANYONE else. That's where we must empower ourselves to understand our own sovereignty. I have complete control of how I choose to respond to a push of my boundary but not to dictate that others must place their own boundaries.

This is where we are right now. I recognize that my past actions have induced some harm, intentional or not. Again, I apologize for that. I've shared a few reasons why we have different viewpoints and may continue to create similar polls in the future. So, to move forward, I will be more diligent in tagging any polls so that anyone trying to avoid such content may do so. You will have to decide if that is sufficient for you or if you will need to also disengage here.

Whatever you choose, I do wish you the absolute best and thankyou for bringing this lapse to my attention. Like you said, this is intended to be a fun place where we can vote in meaningless tumblr polls about a group of guys in Korea that make music. I would never want to compromise someone's peace with something so trivial but I am just another stranger on the internet. The one thing I can do is try to give you the tools so that you can make informed decisions about what type of content you may encounter in my space.

I'm not looking to turn this blog into a discussion one, so if anyone wants/needs to chat further, please reach out in DMs or through my main blog @curio-queries . This blog will continue to focus on BTS polls.

BORAHAE 💜

[zorilleerrant]

BANG BANG BANG

3 8 & 9!

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

I don't screenshot these for my own mental health but. I've genuinely seen someone - more than one person, actually! - claim that Jason Todd never killed anyone. And I don't know if it was just a joke that didn't land or if they're talking about Robin!Jason or something else, but I think there's a growing contingent of people who genuinely believe that every claim Jason killed anyone is a smear campaign. Which is like. That's the point of his character actually??? Like the whole point of Red Hood is exploring the morality of killing and what it does to a person regardless of morality. He wouldn't be an interesting character without the murders!!! The Cass misunderstanding (that she's an assassin) I get more because that's an easy mistake to make.

That Armand never really loved Louis, he was just convenient, which like. No he's not did you even watch the show? That's the most inconvenient motherfucker anyone could ever date. But also... none of the dramatic tension plays out unless he's in love! (Some of it I don't think played out anyway.) There's no reason for him to do anything he does unless he's head over heels and going crazy with it. And there's no poignancy to the breakup if neither of them care I mean. What about it then. (Also how can Daniel heal Armand's heart if it isn't broken, come on now.)

I've also been getting mad at people a lot for saying that Faith is a lesbian or has 'obvious lesbian coding' when like... she's one of the straightest characters on TV. Literally, no, people, you are just a lesbian and into her! That's the opposite! You're the opposite person from Faith in that equation!

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

That any of the Batfamily smoke. Rich people just don't smoke anymore, haven't for quite a while, and certainly wouldn't be okay with their kids smoking. Which means they only do it as rebellion - except that Bruce had no parents to rebel against, and everyone else did superhero stuff for their rebellions. Even the ones who grew up in environments with a lot of smokers were too young to be smoking regularly when they were out on their own. Alfred might smoke, depending on his backstory, but not in front of the kids. Steph you could convince me was rebelling against her very health conscious mom, but you'd need to motivate an antagonistic relationship. Babs I feel would just think it's gross.

That Niko is aromantic. She literally decided two starfish were in love, just because they were next to each other and had contrasting color palettes. That's, if anything, an example of amatonormativity, not a thought that aromantics have all the time. I mean I think she just saw the starfish and had her own romantic thoughts, because she likes romance and thinks about it all the time, and if you want her to be arospec then make her aego!!!

That Xander is any more sexist or awkward than any of the other characters. Sure, a lot of his lines didn't age well... but neither did any of theirs, and no one decides they're evil for it. Well, except for the handful who have really violent things to say about Willow. I wish I could find more Buffy fans who watched it on the air tbh. He literally doesn't do anything except for normal teenage stuff like all the other teenagers also do.

9. worst part of canon

Alright, everyone's going to come at me for this one but like. I don't think Dick and Bruce should have an antagonistic relationship. Or even a tense one. Or even like 'well, Bruce is controlling and Dick is learning to be an adult, so they clash'. No? They really mostly shouldn't ever have problems. They're THE Batman and Robin; they know exactly what each other is thinking. They think in the same way and agree on 99% of stuff and don't ever misunderstand each other because they grew up together. They learned how to be heroes together. I don't need false conflict added to make the story world all dark and edgy and I don't see why it was. Dick is a kid who has normal growing up problems and Bruce is a supportive dad who sometimes gives the wrong advice because he didn't have the exact same problems, that's it.

The worst part of Invincible canon is that they specifically made the main character half asian and then didn't do anything thematic with it. Guys! His human half is asian, always seen as other, seen as a visitor or tourist even in his own home. His alien half, which is a visitor and tourist (and nefarious dictatorial influence), looks white, and thus is categorically instead of contingently accepted. Both halves would make him feel othered and outside of society, but one half people would reject outright for not looking othered, and the other half people would reject because they don't like to listen to asians having opinions on things. His dad was never racist to his mom because he didn't know how, and that helped her fall in love with him, but then the dude turns right around and has opinions about all humans that really sound a lot like the same orientalist arguments! And they just didn't SAY anything about it!!!!

The worst part of Buffy is Season 7.

lol probably everyone should specify a fandom

[thevindicativevordan]

Don't think I've seen you talk on this but since you've talked about their respective love interests already, what's your thought on the Superman and Wonder Woman pairing?

Let's go two for one and throw in WonderBat as well. Short answer is that both of the relationships are bad for Wonder Woman, and I don't want her to end up with either.

Now I'm not opposed to her dating either of the two as a temporary thing. Diana has enough in common with both that I can buy her feeling a spark of romance with either. Diana and Clark are by nature different from normal humans, but also idealists who believe the world can be better than it is, because humanity is much better than it believes itself to be. Diana and Bruce are both blue bloods who have trained since childhood in pursuit of a cause, Bruce the elimination of crime, Diana the fulfillment of the Amazon ideal. That she'd look at Clark or Bruce and consider making a go of being in a relationship with either has enough basis in the similarities to be found amongst the trio that it doesn't feel completely out of left field.

In-universe though there's just no way I buy a permanent relationship between Diana and Clark or Bruce. For one Diana's mission is different from theirs, she's an ambassador whose mission is explicitly geared towards advocating for change to the status quo. Clark and Bruce certainly have their own opinions, but neither one is as comfortable in the political arena as she is. Were the United States government to do something the Trinity disapproved of, Clark and Bruce would prefer to handle things covertly in their superhero identities, or to use their secret identities to push back in public. Diana on the other hand would have no problem issuing a condemnation as Wonder Woman, she's not afraid to throw her hat in the public square. Inevitably I can see that causing fights between her and either one of them were they together. With Bruce specifically Diana isn't putting up with his control freak tendencies, paranoia, or abrasiveness. With Clark I think she'd take issue with all the lying he does in order to maintain his secret identity, despite claiming to fight for Truth, and that would be a point of contention between the two.

Another problem is that Diana is the one who has to get folded into their worlds because they're "bigger" than she is in DC's eyes. Much as the "Trinity" is a cool concept, it's also a blatant lie. Three of them are not on equal footing, not in terms of popularity, profitability, adaptions in media projects, comics sales, or the number of iconic stories each posses. Batman has the other two lapped completely, with Superman struggling behind, and Wonder Woman even further in the rear. So if she's going to be dating either one it's not going to be a romance of equals, and historically it hasn't been.

When she's dating Clark they tend to ramp up the bitchiness factor by 10, so she can be a more effective foil for him. Kingdom Come was the first story to pair the two in a really big way, and that has her waving her sword around and advocating for the most violent solution to every problem. Wonder Woman gets written out of character for Superman's benefit, so that he gets to be the reasonable one despite constantly fucking up. It's a characterization that carried forward into the New 52, Frank Miller's take on their romance, and Injustice. Additionally there's usually no real serious exploration of why the two like each other beyond "he's strong and dressed in red, gold, & blue, she's strong and dressed in red, gold, & blue, of course they get together!" which is utterly shallow characterization for both.

With Batman they tend to turn her into a starstruck fangirl who has no greater goal in life than to hop on his dick (let's call it the "Silver Age Lois Lane" treatment). DCAU Wonder Woman is lousy because outside of her crush on Batman, she has no character arc or personality at all. Doesn't endear me to the relationship that the DCAU showrunners said their reason for pairing her with Batman was simply because they didn't want to pair her with Superman (ignoring that they didn't have to pair her with either and that they were pretty open in not knowing what the hell to do with her). They treated Wonder Woman as just another way to confirm how awesome Batman is, with her being yet another one of the women who threw themselves at him, and he stepped over in response.

Then there's the storytelling problems you have to consider. Look unless they job the ever-loving fuck out of her, how would the average Batman plot even work anymore? Usually they handwave why the other heroes don't show up to help Batman with the latest Arkham freak's plot to destroy all of Gotham, by saying that he doesn't want them in "his" city. Well if he and Diana are dating there's no good reason why he'd keep her out, and she sure as hell isn't going to just stay away if her boyfriend is in trouble. Majority of Batman's Rogues pose zero threat to Wonder Woman, unlike Superman she doesn't have Kryptonite/red solar radiation you can use to level the playing field either, and she'd be able to wrap up something like the Magistrate without breaking a sweat. Wonder Woman is just too powerful to exist in Gotham without getting massively nerfed, which would only anger her fans. Cross-franchise romances also have a habit of ending badly, see what became of the Black Panther/Storm marriage as evidence of that.

Final reason why I don't think it can work: Wonder Woman is frequently used as a trophy that Superman and Batman writers fight over so that their favorite can be the "top dog" and get the top heroine in comics as a prize. It's not really about her it's about them, about making them look even cooler for being able to bag her. Sometimes they even add in misandrist elements to her character so that we can all smile knowingly when the man hating feminist chills out after getting dicked by one of comics "alpha males". Can't shake the feeling that pairing her with either one smacks of the worst kind of fanboyism, especially since both have plenty of love interests already. Let Diana have her own love interests in her own franchise, that's what is best for her as a character in the long run.

[tv14pluscartoons]

BIRDGIRL EPISODE 1: "PILOT" (April 4th, 2021)

Review edited for me by Glenn Rolón

This show contains discussion of parental neglect, non-graphic death and a hidden severed foot in a bag.

So, funny story, 21 years ago I was 5 years old watching the beginnings of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Was I too young for it? Absolutely. But also it was like, the least inappropriate thing on Adult Swim I actively watched all through its run until I was 12 years old, so it's held a special place in my heart ever since.

All of that is to say, having seen that show is kind of unnecessary to understanding this episode. Which I would hope, given this is a spinoff of a show that began 21 years ago, ended officially 14 years ago, and had its last one-off special 3 years ago.

Birdgirl starts us off with Judy Ken Sebben/Birdgirl finishing up her day job, ordering ramen takeout while venting through the call about how her passions are more with her other life as Birdgirl than with her normal life as Judy, which is the perfect set up for the ultimate point of the episode. It then rushes forward into Birdgirl's fast paced action and awkwardness-heavy night, showing how much more excited Judy feels to do that than her lawyer day job. Though it also shows how RECKLESS she is as Birdgirl.

Judy completely ignores the giant signs of her father's death, seemingly out of cluelessness to the audience as its presented.

But longtime watchers of Harvey Birdman will already know he's faked his death multiple times, a point that's brought up when Judy goes to work the next day and is called into the meeting for the CEO Replacement. In which its revealed that her father (who believes Birdgirl and Judy are different people) chose Birdgirl to be the CEO while giving Judy the majority stocks in the company, setting off the real point of the episode, and possibly series: Judy's entire mental disconnect with herself. She feels distraught that her father saw Birdgirl as CEO material and not her more personal, calmer self.

Because she can't bring herself to grieve over her father yet again after the previous times, she goes fully into denial spending more of her time as Birdgirl and neglecting her personal life.

Which brings the concern of the friend she makes with Meredith the Mindtaker, a green telepath played by Negin Farsad.

Meredith is very empathetic despite calling herself "bad at emotions", which might be a side effect of her powers. Speaking of, to make a mental note, I find it refreshing that her powers are treated very intentionally not-invasively as possible, only using them to give therapeutic advice to Judy or physically stopping her to get her to listen. The biggest "misuse" is just her joking to finish Judy's sentences, which while annoying, isn't the same as forcing her way deep into Judy's insecurities she won't admit to herself.

Birdgirl's humor is dry and not scored by music or heavy sounds, aside from the absurdity of Birdgirl's incompetence at fighting crime in denial of her father's death; which is still underplayed compared to other examples I've seen.

The character design feels fitting as a continuation to Harvey Birdman while just being pleasant to look at, while also animating probably better overall than the original or a show with a similar vibe and style like Archer.

I really like how Birdgirl's eyes go from superhero cartoon/comic book white to showing her eyes like a live action adaptation whenever she'll be speaking honestly from the heart while in the mask instead of in denial.

One thing that might become obvious the longer you watch the episode is that, unlike Harvey Birdman, Birdgirl seems like it's not allowed to use Hanna Barbera/MGM/Cartoon Network characters freely, which may explain the abscence of a few old key characters, not showing or mentioning Harvey Birdman, and the fact one of the board members is a cartoon dog that might've been Droopy had they been able to. I don't think this hinders the show at all, but it is noticeable considering the show it spun off from. Might be Warner wanting to keep some characters clean while they try to use them in kid appropriate material like Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Birdgirl is a very calm show, definitely meant for teenagers and older — With the exploration of Judy's personal, mental and emotional struggles brought on by her father's neglect of her when she wasn't being reckless as Birdgirl. However, everything else is very tame; there's fewer than 5 bleeped swears, fewer than 3 mentions of sex and despite there being a people eating machine in this episode, it shows no real gore unlike another show with the same TV-14 Rating.

Birdgirl is for adults not in the sense that it has content inappropriate for children, but in the sense that its story, which seems to be ongoing, deals with issues that are only really relatable to people who are old enough. Despite human waste (heh) being a part of the episode, it doesn't ever feel "immature" in the way that poster child shows like Family Guy or Rick and Morty can feel, or even Tuca and Bertie, which is very mature with an important story, but goes for more crass jokes.

If you're a fan of stories with a woman-centric cast and dry humor, I'd recommend it to you. If you're more into the superhero stuff, I can't say I'd recommend it to you until more episodes have come out for a better gauge of where the show's boundaries will be.

Overall, Birdgirl is an enjoyable superhero empathy ride I hope to see more of and I'm glad I checked out.

[peppermintmagicianlynn]

Personally, I love Bernard because of him and Tim's amazing story (as mentioned already, so I won't rehash it) but also because of his potential as a character.

I'd spent the last decade or so actively avoiding the DC comic universe and sticking with the Animated Series. I wandered upon the Wayne Family Adventures webtoon on a whim and then was stunned to see Tim Drake, who I only knew as a kid from Batman Animated, was DATING A BOY???? And looking super adorable??!!!

So I went on a deep dive to figure out who Bernard was and read their reunion comics, which just made me MORE intrigued by the guy and then I heard he'd called Tim's stepmother Hot??!!

SO that meant ANOTHER dive, working my way backwards through his timeline for when he was "attacked" by his reanimated best friend and then to the shooting and THEN to properly seeing his high school friendship with Tim. All in all, it was a very strange way to learn about someone.

But to me, starting from WFA and then learning his deeper history, it just felt…right. I skimmed through the Robin comics and learned about Ariana and Steph and Zoanne and Tam and everyone else he had been with. And yet while all of those had a lot of content and were really sweet stories, it just felt like Tim and Bernard hit better. They STARTED as friends, they were forced apart, then they came back together as more mature people and could see one another in a totally different light. Maybe it's because the DC writers are more conscientious now about superheroes NOT treating their significant others badly (as Tim could sometimes do, see Ariana and Stephanie for examples) or just that the pairing is new right now. But I think it's because Bernard - as a civilian who knew Tim in a version that was less than his best - now coming to him in a version that could BECOME his best, means the potential to have a better relationship than he'd had before. The groundwork is solid, the affection is sweet and new, and the future feels like it would be a grand experience.

It's annoying that there isn't a lot of Bernard content so far (the ship is still kinda new-ish and not super popular as I've seen) but I don’t feel as bad about that because Bernard already has so many neat little character traits we've seen with what we have. He has secrets still not explored (like his time with the cult) and stories left to tell (like his strained relationship to his parents) but he's not a blank canvas. He's a story still waiting to be told. Just like Tim Drake. So in that way, I feel like they could make a really great story together.

Hey, Timber/Timbern shippers! I have a question

Ok, so I'm relatively new to the fandom and I don't have much knowledge apart from the superficial thing...

But I would really like to get into Timber more. It's been hard for me bc I can't exactly connect with the ship?

I usually love and connect better with ships when I've seen them struggle before or in the relationship. Either bc they go through hardships together or bc of each other

So, if you have the time... Could you tell me why you like the ship sm? (Not saying there should be a reason though)

Why do you think they work (compability)? What do you think they love about each other? What do you think they dislike about each other (yes, the bad things too)? Do they bring the best out of each other (I know that's true for Tim, but what Bernard)? Do they have petty, meaningless fights or they have big, important arguments that they try to work through? Etc...

Idk, let me know your thoughts. I really think it will help me get into it (I also just love reading/hearing people's thoughts on what they like)

Thanks in advance :)

[danny-chase]

You know, in a lot of the fics I've seen about Tim and Dick reconciling after the whole Robin being handed over to Damian, Tim is usually filled with self righteous anger about the entire situation. And idk I just don't really vibe with it - specifically, I don't think it's realistic for Tim to rage against Dick and forget he's messed up up in their relationship too. Especially because of this panel from an arc that concludes Young Justice.

In this arc (I'm guessing some people abhor it because it leads into the unspeakable Teen Titans and is a dark and gritty DC story) Young Justice (Tim's team - at the time being lead by Cassie) ignores directions given by Dick multiple times, makes a bad situation worse, and said situation ends up maiming most the Titans, and killing two others (most notably Donna Troy, Dick's best friend).

Now this isn't directly Tim's fault. And honestly I don't blame Tim for what happened. But would Tim blame himself? Definitely. This was Tim's team first - he was the leader for the majority of the run though young justice was a more informal team. Plus the batkids all have extremely high standards for themselves (and Dick holds his teammates to high standards as well).

(Garth deserves better)

On some level I think Dick would have partly blamed Tim for what happened (idk if it's explored in the Teen Titans run after this at all) but Tim is right when he says how dumb his teammates acted. They made really bad decisions in this arc, and it wasn't entirely ooc for them to do so (see Kon during the superhero war arc in YJ, Cassie bringing home a plant from an alien planet, Bart like electrocuting Kon to give him back his powers). Young Justice was a team for wacky fun adventures, not "the real world" and it's pretty depressing reading this arc, idk i just feel like it's something that could be explored more. Especially because this occured when Tim idolized Dick deeply, and then literally his own team destroyed Dick's (which is how i think Tim viewed it).

Obviously I think Dick would forgive Tim, or at least try his best but like...Donna's death was freaking devastating for him like look at this:

Ugh this arc was so sad. Donna comes back to life of course cuz DC stands for Death doesn't Count but like yeah this would have been traumatic is heck for both characters.

Tl;dr: Dick does have reasons to subconsciously be angry with Tim, and Tim has reasons to doubt his footing with Dick. A lot of their reconciliation fics focus on the Robin thing, but that didn't happen completely in a vacuum (unless you ignore anything but Red Robin). This arc happened way beforehand (years ago in universe and they went on a year long cruise after Kon died where I'm sure they made up). But damn, their relationship really has its ups and downs.

(Tim stans pls don't yell at me i don't blame Tim for this i just think he would blame himself and then be too ashamed to literally even look at Dick for awhile and i feel like that would make for a more interesting discussion, also I've been on dc tumblr for like *checks watch* 4 months so like idk if people already talk about this a lot i personally haven't read any fics or seen posts about it)

[artemissoteira]

Do 10 50s!!!!!! (Any questions you want)

thanks casey ily for enabling me <3 (d&d ask meme here) this is, obviously, a long post bc of who I am as a person. you're all welcome.

6: Which of your d&d characters has been the least like you?

Honestly, probably Medea! And even she has slipped so much towards me lmao. Girlboss is not really my vibe but has been so so fun to play. I don't think I could have found her without Isaac's Sphinx to play off of because I don't have to feel bad about being mean to him sfdsdf and she needs an outlet for that. I'm not a person who carries much guilt or bitterness so that has been really interesting to poke at.

12: Have you ever fought a beholder?

Yes, an undead one, in a oneshot @brogendered ran! iirc we fucked up trying to get into the house over the wall instead of through the door and dropped right into a deadly encounter. we scooped a magic sword and fled back over the wall but left the beholder in some AOE damage spell, then took a short rest, and by the time we came back it was fully dead lmao. Extremely scary surprise encounter to start off the oneshot and extremely kind of jake to let us cheese it that way instead of killing us immediately which we probably had earned.

16. What is your favorite D&D pod/vodcast?

Anything by the Streampunks (Twitter here; most of their shows & others currently hosted on Queuetimes on YT/Twitch). Most of their stuff isn't in the D&D but all of it makes me cry. I started with Callisto 6 back on Geek & Sundry as my first ttrpg foray outside of CR and have never looked back. Strongest of recommendations to anyone interested in superheroes in dystopian cyberpunk Los Angeles 2119 combatting megacorporations with the power of eternal gay love and direct radical action, with a ton of loving care put into worldbuilding and rooting their characters in specific neighborhoods of the city.

It's a story about deliberate compassion and the enduring connection of communities in an unkind capitalistic world, with a storyteller who knows and takes care of his players by giving them every chance to explore what choosing kindness means and to reclaim agency for their own characters, allies, and antagonists alike. Fundamentally changed my understanding of ttrpgs as storytelling you can do, on purpose, with everyone throwing themselves wholeheartedly into a shared story with a deliberate commitment to theme. I think genuinely every single character made me cry at least once, including the ones I originally didn't connect with who ultimately had such powerful arcs that revealed the actors had been paying real damn attention the whole time.

Also has my favorite gay flirting via mechanically suboptimal combat choices that I've ever seen. I simply can't get into it here because I WILL scream but my jaw dropped. gina devivo’s mind. if you want even more longform gay yelling from me send me questions about callisto 6 or other streampunks shows lmao.

watch the first 2 seasons (24 eps) of callisto 6 on youtube. season 3 currently only available on geek and sundry's twitch archive, which you can access for a month for $5 and binge all 12 episodes.

14. Have you ever had a romance with an NPC or another PC?

Casey I will love you forever for turning my sheer lesbian energy and chronic Support Women syndrome into an actual romance for Medea and Medusa. Galaxy brain. I think that's the only romance I've dealt with, unless we count Tony wingmanning Tuck by strongly implying she'd fucked a lot of giants, which we shouldn't, even if it was iconic.

18. Do you use props/minis/terrain in your game?

using this as an excuse to say Roll20 my beloved. still extremely proud of the first oneshot I made from scratch last spring, when I taught myself javascript in order to code puzzles into the Roll20 API. I made: pressure plates that trigger walls to move up and down to allow water to flow; an automatically rotating lantern puzzle that revealed hidden text on the walls and featured actually climbable lanterns that I could hook character tokens to; and most importantly a secret button to change the icon of the goose barbarian, Duck Duck the Goose, from the standard Untitled Goose holding a knife into an edited version of the icon with "then perish" laser eyes.

Oh also a secret pressure plate trap that would only trigger when the bard stepped on it, played a magical sound effect and teleported him to another page where he had to solve a penis nonogram puzzle to be sent back to the party.

Aaand a magic electrical spark that worked as a laser pointer to guide a kitten around the map, complete with both the spark and the kitten’s icons switching orientations as they moved depending on whether they were above/below and left/right of each other.

20. If you run a homebrew game, give an out of context spoiler.

The rats don't like weasels.

21. Drop a picture of a mini you painted (if applicable).

No physical minis, but in the dark ages before heroforge had color options I manually recolored this mini of Tetra using fake photoshop by isolating each part of her body and fucking around with hue filters until I liked it.

tetra with hat dot png:

[ID: a purple merfolk mini from heroforge with webbed ears, an orange-tinted vest, a bright green kelp skirt, gold leather armbands, a large pink shell on one shoulder, a green kelp headpiece and orange flames rising from one hand. a clipart image of a purple propeller hat covered in gold stars has been edited onto her head. end ID]

yes the propeller hat image is from club penguin. yes i added the stars myself. yes I am this sexy and correct all the time and yes it is exhausting.

32. Most memorable NPC you've encountered in a game you played in.

There's so many, but I've periodically heard Najiba's voice in my head saying "Ithren, are you crazy? Like, you're a little bit crazy, right?" for weeks. her voice is so lyrical I want to listen to her talk for hours.

Ithren doesn't get her at all, but they like when she asks them questions bc it makes them feel like they are doing something useful by answering, even if their answers are completely incomprehensible to the party. I love that after every big thing that happens she goes, "Um, was that okay? That we did that? Like is that a good thing or did we do something bad here?" & makes everyone give their opinions. queen of nosiness.

34. Favorite accent to do for characters?

I've only found one accent I can do reliably so far and it's, like, surfer bro frat boy himbo burnout. Instant hit with the children and got my hapless bandit captive adopted by the party so quickly and now he's in charge of their horses. I love him so much.

all my other NPCs inevitably slide towards vaguely british snooty woman or gruff gravelly uncle no matter what I try to start them as. the two genders etc etc.

36. What was your first d&d character you made?

Tony the Tabaxi, my beloved. Orange tabaxi thembo swashbuckler rogue. The name is a fakeout for Tony the Tiger; they're actually named after Antonio Banderas who voices Puss in Boots. They’re just Puss in Boots. Thought I was gonna have to do something funky for the build but swashbucklers literally get the Panache ability at level 9 that is a free non-magical charm that works perfectly for Puss's big sad cat eyes. Love them so much.

Shrek 2 isn't on Netflix (or wasn't at the time) so for character research I watched Puss In Boots (2011) as well as "Puss In Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale", which is a choose your own adventure interactive special?? And a few episodes of The Adventures of Puss in Boots which (spoilers) takes place in the town of San Lorenzo which puss protects for years until the bloodwolf gets summoned and puss & friends get sucked into a dimensional portal (?) and Puss has to choose to have his friends' memories of him erased in order to correct the timeline, but carries them with him always. From what I recall. He adopts some piglets I think.

[spandexinspace]

2, 7, 8, 15, 24, 44

2. What character death for the sake of drama was the worst?

Mettle in Avengers Arena. AA itself was an absolute waste of time and space, but there was no reason for poor Mettle to die like that. He didn't need to die.

7. What “throwaway” character could they have done more with?

Not quite a throwaway since he did belong to the main cast of a comic ten years ago, but I always kinda hoped Striker would get more attention. His entire thing is perhaps a little outdated at this point, but he grew on me and had a nice bit of character growth.

Also, Lyrl. Not totally a throwaway either, but we haven't seen him in over a decade and he's been in like three comics. He's a fun character and honestly, the comedic potential of one of the smartest people in the universe being a kinda bratty and smug teenage alien who knows some really weird people is right there.

8. What hero doesn’t deserve their hype?

Batman. Both in and out of universe.

He's really nothing special out of universe, aside from having been around for a very long time, but he gets hyped to all hell and back for it. What especially annoys me is that there's a segment of the audience that treats Batman as the only "mature" and therefore acceptable option in the genre (occasionally alongside characters like The Punisher), and go on and on about how realistic he is. As if his entire character isn't just as unrealistic as any other superhero.

I think the hype out of universe is what ruins him in universe too. Because as it is now he dominates DC's entire output, he's focal part of most events and crossovers and it often feels like the entire universe warps itself to accommodate him, especially in crossover books (which is where I usually have to see him). Other characters will suck at things they should be good at or mess up for no reason, or he'll suddenly gain skills or knowledge he shouldn't have. And if he messes up it's justified by the narrative and he comes out on top at the end anyway.

It often feels like DC, who are fully aware that he's their cashcow, don't want to risk upsetting his fans or making him look "bad", so they do everything in their power to make him the most competent and important person in the room no matter who else is there. Which is very annoying. Especially when fans praise him for being such an underdog or a man among gods or whatever. Because he's so often portrayed as someone who can compete on their level without really breaking a sweat and at that point he's nowhere near an underdog.

Also all that but like ten times worse for all the Batmen in Metal. Awful concepts all around, I have no idea how they got so damn popular. Especially Dawnbreaker, he's a little bitch and Venditti was correct when he refused to make Hal job to him.

15. Tell me about a plotline that could have been interesting if anyone else wrote it.

Providing that editorial could also keep their fingers out of it, Heroes in Crisis.

Exploring the ways being a superhero/having powers affects mental health or what underlying issues some characters have? Could be an interesting story if handled well.

Assigning random conditions to random characters for no reason, including off beat jokes and memes in the middle of serious moments and then turning the entire thing into a shitty, unsolvable murder mystery and character assassination fest? Absolute garbage.

24. Ship(s) that makes you cringe.

Oh, if this ain't a minefield.

SuperBat is up there for me. The romantic chemistry is not there and I've never seen anything that made it work. Outside of Midnighter and Apollo I guess, but they've moved beyond being pastiches.

Kyle/Sora was, as some would call it, terrible. Not only didn't they have any chemistry, they also both became worse characters while together. Also Kyle/Carol, which wasn't as bad but still didn't feel right at all.

Then there's Supercorp, where it's the fandom that is oh so cringy. The ship itself is just off my radar entirely, but the way the fandom try to insert themselves in everything and play the victim at every turn is ridiculous.

44. Any characters you used to like but grew to dislike?

Beast Boy. My first real fandom was the TT cartoon fandom and I was obsessed with BB back then, but I didn't start reading comics until much later and had no idea what he was like in the comics. One of the first comics I got my hands on was a Teen Titans Child's Play, where he's a horrible creep, and it was the killing blow to my declining interest in the character.

More recently there's Jon. He was pretty decent for a child character and it was fun to see Clark and Lois as parents (again). He wasn't the most interesting character in his own right, but his existence opened doors to intersting concepts. Then the age up happened and now he barely has a personality and his stories are under-developed and can't seem to stick to one single direction or concept. Which makes it very hard to like him as a character.

[fezgician]

BIRDGIRL EPISODE 1: "PILOT" (April 4th, 2021)

So, funny story, 21 years ago I was 5 years old watching the beginnings of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Was I too young for it? Absolutely. But also it was like, the least inappropriate thing on Adult Swim I actively watched all through its run until I was 12 years old, so it's held a special place in my heart ever since.

All of that is to say, having seen that show is kind of unnecessary to understanding this episode. Which I would hope, given this is a spinoff of a show that began 21 years ago, ended officially 14 years ago, and had its last one-off special 3 years ago.

Birdgirl starts us off with Judy Ken Sebben/Birdgirl finishing up her day job, ordering ramen takeout while venting through the call about how her passions are more with her other life as Birdgirl than with her normal life as Judy, which is the perfect set up for the ultimate point of the episode. It then rushes forward into Birdgirl's fast paced action and awkwardness-heavy night, showing how much more excited Judy feels to do that than her lawyer day job. Though it also shows how RECKLESS she is as Birdgirl.

Judy completely ignores the giant signs of her father's death, seemingly out of cluelessness to the audience as its presented.

But longtime watchers of Harvey Birdman will already know he's faked his death multiple times, a point that's brought up when Judy goes to work the next day and is called into the meeting for the CEO Replacement. In which its revealed that her father (who believes Birdgirl and Judy are different people) chose Birdgirl to be the CEO while giving Judy the majority stocks in the company, setting off the real point of the episode, and possibly series: Judy's entire mental disconnect with herself. She feels distraught that her father saw Birdgirl as CEO material and not her more personal, calmer self.

Because she can't bring herself to grieve over her father yet again after the previous times, she goes fully into denial spending more of her time as Birdgirl and neglecting her personal life.

Which brings the concern of the friend she makes with Merideth the Mindtaker, a green telepath played by Negin Farsad.

Merideth is very empathetic despite calling herself "bad at emotions", which might be a side effect of her powers. Speaking of, to make a mental note, I find it refreshing that her powers are treated very intentionally not-invasively as possible, only using them to give therapeutic advice to Judy or physically stopping her to get her to listen. The biggest "misuse" is just her joking to finish Judy's sentences, which while annoying, isn't the same as forcing her way deep into Judy's insecurities she won't admit to herself.

Birdgirl's humor is dry and not scored by music or heavy sounds, aside from the absurdity of Birdgirl's incompetence at fighting crime in denial of her father's death; which is still underplayed compared to other examples I've seen.

The character design feels fitting as a continuation to Harvey Birdman while just being pleasant to look at, while also animating probably better overall than the original or a show with a similar vibe and style like Archer.

I really like how Birdgirl's eyes go from superhero cartoon/comic book white to showing her eyes like a live action adaptation whenever she'll be speaking honestly from the heart while in the mask instead of in denial.

One thing that might become obvious the longer you watch the episode is that, unlike Harvey Birdman, Birdgirl seems like it's not allowed to use Hanna Barbera/MGM/Cartoon Network characters freely, which may explain the abscence of a few old key characters, not showing or mentioning Harvey Birdman, and the fact one of the board members is a cartoon dog that might've been Droopy had they been able to. I don't think this hinders the show at all, but it is noticeable considering the show it spun off from. Might be Warner wanting to keep some characters clean while they try to use them in kid appropriate material like Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Birdgirl is a very calm show, definitely meant for teenagers and older — With the exploration of Judy's personal, mental and emotional struggles brought on by her father's neglect of her when she wasn't being reckless as Birdgirl. However, everything else is very tame; there's fewer than 5 bleeped swears, fewer than 3 mentions of sex and despite there being a people eating machine in this episode, it shows no real gore unlike another show with the same TV-14 Rating.

Birdgirl is for adults not in the sense that it has content inappropriate for children, but in the sense that its story, which seems to be ongoing, deals with issues that are only really relatable to people who are old enough. Despite human waste (heh) being a part of the episode, it doesn't ever feel "immature" in the way that poster child shows like Family Guy or Rick and Morty can feel, or even Tuca and Bertie, which is very mature with an important story, but goes for more crass jokes.

If you're a fan of stories with a woman-centric cast and dry humor, I'd recommend it to you. If you're more into the superhero stuff, I can't say I'd recommend it to you until more episodes have come out for a better gauge of where the show's boundaries will be.

Overall, Birdgirl is an enjoyable superhero empathy ride I hope to see more of and I'm glad I checked out.

[buddha-in-disguise]

Discourse, Supergirl and fans.

The Supergirl situation with William Dey, is far more than about William Dey per se.

I touched on this when I first posted about David Harewood.

What I have seen, and I am still seeing is while some SuperCorp fans were annoyed about the preview for episode 12, this was also coming from a diverse section of the fandom. That David (and others) have singled out the SuperCorp fandom is both unfair, and unhelpful. But that is a different discussion altogether.

So - I am going to repeat and expand on some of what I wrote at the time to try and explain why I, (and others) have found Supergirl to be really problematic at the moment.

First of all: There is no doubt Supergirl currently has a diverse cast, inc. LGBTQ representation. 

However, all the diversity in the world means absolutely nothing if a program is seemingly only playing lip service to the characters. 

Compare and contrast with Legends of tomorrow. They have 6 women. 2 Muslim superheroes (a TV first). 5 characters are LGBTQ, including Charlie; who is recognised as gender fluid. 4 people of colour. The lead is a woman, who is bisexual, in a canon relationship with a lesbian, and is a superhero. 

They do this without it being made a big deal of, enjoyed by LGBTQ and heterosexual audience alike. But it is a huge deal for many because of that diversity, and just as importantly they haven't overloaded the cast numbers, so they all get good solid storylines through a season. A season that is also shorter than Supergirl. 

Legends are an example of how you can put in a diverse minority cast, without it becoming forced or cumbersome. It isn't without fault sure, but no program is. 

So where is Supergirl going wrong at the moment? 

Let's use William, as the crux of the problems are best shown with his character, but it isn't limited to him. I will put first - this is absolutely *not* a criticism towards Staz Nair, who I respect (& like, as far as one can from limited SM interaction). All too often the accusations are made that if you don't like a character, you hate the actor. That is categorically not true for me, nor others I've seen posting about this. Of course if anyone does hate on the actor, that is not okay.

So, back to William. I get the reason he came along in regards to Russell and so the Andrea connection. That story made sense.  What hasn't made sense - William being used as a journalist, when Nia is right there! Nia has barely had any screen time, and virtually none as a journalist; you know - her actual job. I'm not sure what the minutes on screen ratio has been this season between the two, but it has felt completely slanted towards William as a viewer, at least until now. 

First instead of Kara and Nia investigating Leviathan after William was 'exposed' in the earlier episodes, now Nia is sidelined again, because they want Kara to team up with William to investigate Lex.

Why? Why do they need that journalistic pairing, when Nia - who as a Superhero, is better placed if danger from Lex occurs. But no, they're making it about Kara having to work with William because Lex threatened to kill him. Plus Nia was being mentored by Kara. Is she no longer being mentored by Kara? Are they a team? Even if the mentoring has ended, Nia is still not being utilised as a journalist.

I am utterly baffled as to why they feel this arc makes any sense. Moreso when an already established character gets sidelined. 

I'm also getting tired of seeing anyone who sees these valid opinions about current storyline as being trolls (or the comments all SuperCorp fans are just outright haters. No - SuperCorp fans are a large diverse group, that have incredible artists, fanfic writers, and social media users. Many also multi-ship. To place a blanket statement about a whole fandom as large as SC, is hateful. All fandoms have some who are problematic, but to single out an entire group is not right). 

So back to my thoughts. An episode can have some great aspects to it, but it can also be highly problematic to some fans, & receive valid criticism or valid opinions for it. For example, the latest episode of Batwoman. The Alice/Beth story was great. The acting superb. What I found worrying was the way they made Sophie feel guilty for legitimate reasons why she had led a closeted lifestyle. That lifestyle is valid, for Sophie and many LGBTQ people, and for good reason, including keeping some people safe from harm. I felt it was a clumsy attempt for Alice to get into Sophie's mind; it could've been tackled other ways, so it felt wrong they used her sexuality as a way to achieve that. Being closeted for many literally keeps them alive. So that was one hell of a poor choice in my opinion. Yet others have made perfectly credible counter arguments that it showed the difficulties faced by many LGBTQ people. So, great episode, valid criticism/opinion from both points of view. It also highlights you can have excellent episodes, but they can have legitimate issues.

Nor does differences of opinion, as long as it is respectful, makes those voicing them a bully, no matter how much you disagree. 

At the end of this, if you don’t agree, and your opinion makes you say something that is intentionally hurtful (directly or indirectly to a person or group of people), it's a bad thing. The key word being intentionally. We all make mistakes, and responses that could've been better, & we all need to be aware of that, but if it is an intended attack, don't be surprised if others call you out for your behaviour. 

So now what in regards Supergirl?  

I know ultimately that this show is about Supergirl, but it is also about those around her as family & friends. I understand there are only so many minutes in one episode. What I don't understand is why those precious minutes are going to a character, when they have one perfectly placed to do the same role. Why they have to potentially explore another relationship, when we have one canon relationship, one canon on/off again relationship & one relationship that while isn't canon in terms of romantic, it is a big story in terms of best friends, all seemingly sidelined. Which brings me to the Kara fighting for Lena's soul aspect. Again, I am not seeing a lot of fighting for anything, except more and more fans fighting themselves and cast. 

Then you just need to look at the dislikes that teaser was given on YouTube, and compare them to previous ones. I've attached screenshots to show this.

A serious misjudgment was made by someone on how that teaser would be received, and again I will stress, this dislike hasn't just been from one area of fandom, but multiple areas. For many it wasn't just about William, but the culmination of unease that has built for a few episodes. A prime example of the straw that broke the camel's back. If you are solely focused on one area of fandom for this discourse (as many blame SuperCorp fans), you need to step back and recognise you are not allowing yourself to see the whole picture. To focus solely on one thing, rather than acknowledging the wider audience are saying this, does not make you the better fan. To dismiss it as trolls, is being dismissive of good, regular fans with legitimate questions or concerns. It is insulting to many of us.

I will be honest, I had high hopes for this season. I also knew it was likely going to be pretty confusing at times since it was given as 'our Black mirror season' and 'nothing is as it seems.' I accepted that.

However, all it seems at the moment is a jumbled mess from pre and post Crisis. They just doesn't appear to be any cohesion at all, which is making it really difficult as a viewer. Add in the changes post Crisis and it feels even more of a mess.

Of course, they could bring in more cohesive elements soon, but considering that we know episode 13 is 'It's a wonderful life,' and Alex Danvers in a later episode is wearing a Super suit - I just sense this whole 'nothing is as it seems' side we appear to be getting isn't changing any time soon, & with episodes running out, with so many strings running through at the moment, it feels really discombomulated. If by seasons end, they pull it off and you can look back and see how it's played out as a whole, I will be the first to say well done for that part. 

I do though think right now Supergirl feels chaotic beyond expectation, and no end in sight. I feel there have been too many character additions this season (particularly Andrea & William) that is taking screen time away from Kara, Alex, Nia, Lena, Kelly et al.

It feels like a mess of unnecessary pairings and the crux of the story seems to have been lost in the midst.

That is causing confusion for fans, that is also beginning to become frustration. That frustration is spilling over. Add in the genuine and extremely legitimate concerns over the LGBTQ issues that have arisen (again from far more than just SuperCorp fans), and the frustration has built even more. 

I can only hope the next couple of episodes address some of this and not complicate the mess further. 

Whatever happens, Supergirl is not doing well in terms of a storyline that is gripping for fans, that is now top heavy with regulars, taking screen time from established characters, and a social media blunder that has so far only exacerbated the simmering uncertainty being felt by many.

It might improve, and I sincerely hope it does, but they are edging into the potential for the anger felt by fans to become an all out riot if they don't stop and see where valid criticism is being given. If this season continues on in this vein, then there is going to be huge swathes of fans drifting away. The concerns are legitimate. I wish it could be seen as that.